Thoughts on Air Berlin-LAX-Rome

[Bruin Steve]

Almost a year off until my June/July 2017 cruises, I just started looking at airfares. I've never flown Air Berlin before, but their rates appear to be fairly low...

Using Kayak, they're giving me $1,116.50 per person round trip coach LAX to Rome right now with a stop in Düsseldorf each way. Norwegian has a lower rate via Oslo, but tacks on a healthy baggage fee that gives Air Berlin back the edge.

It looks like they charge for food...about $7.50 to $13...

 

I am more accustomed to flying on airlines like BA and AA, but, with BA, I'm looking at about $1900 pp right now.

 

Anyone with any thoughts on Air Berlin? Should I grab this price now...or wait?

[Gardyloo]

I'd definitely wait. It's not uncommon for airfares to be higher when they're released (11 months typically) due to the airlines having you pay the "hedge" costs (in case their own expenses, e.g. for fuel) go up in the meantime. I'd wait until this winter to book anything.

 

As for your options, AB has 30" pitch in economy and LAX-DUS is a helluva long flight, longer returning. That's REALLY tight.

 

Maybe of no value to you if price is paramount, but I'd note that premium economy - with lots more legroom and better service - is an option if you could see fit to get up to Vancouver (use miles?) and fly from there. Air Canada's excellent PE product (pretty similar to domestic first class in the US) on YVR-FCO-YVR is priced competitively with regular economy fares out of LAX. Even business class out of YVR to Europe is 1/3 - 1/2 less than out of LAX (looking at June) and that's even before the business class seat sales that come up almost every year for transatlantic travel. Just sayin'.

[Bruin Steve]

I just checked YVR on Kayak...and, at least right now, no advantage at all--$1107 but with 2 stops...funny enough, one of them is at SFO...

 

So, I ran a check on SFO-Rome...and, if we flew home the 11th rather than the 12th, we could go in and out of SFO for only $764 pp! I am sure we could find LAX-SFO RT for less than that difference...Heck, we could even drive it in less than six hours...Of course, then we'd have to park the car for about three weeks...

 

Just for the heck of it, I checked San Diego (over $1600) , Las Vegas (over $1600) and Phoenix (almost $1900!)...

Edited August 9, 2016 by Bruin Steve

[Gardyloo]

I just checked YVR on Kayak...and, at least right now, no advantage at all--$1107 but with 2 stops...funny enough, one of them is at SFO...

 

So, I ran a check on SFO-Rome...and, if we flew home the 11th rather than the 12th, we could go in and out of SFO for only $764 pp! I am sure we could find LAX-SFO RT for less than that difference...Heck, we could even drive it in less than six hours...Of course, then we'd have to park the car for about three weeks...

 

Just for the heck of it, I checked San Diego (over $1600) , Las Vegas (over $1600) and Phoenix (almost $1900!)...

No I was suggesting YVR for premium economy or business class fares, not coach.

[Piggeldy]

We flew MIA-DUS on AB a few years ago.

Would do again if the price was right... food on long haul flights should be included (is according to AB's German website, they have just done away with free drinks on inner-European flights) you can upgrade to "gourmet" meals for a fee, in-flight entertainment was good (multiple different movies and tv shows, games etc.). DH was okay with the seat pitch though he is tall (6"3). If you worry you can book XL seats (emergency exit rows) in coach which give you 20% more leg room (can't find the price on the US site, 79 Euros according to German website).

DUS is fairly easy to navigate (much smaller than FFM or MUC) but Oslo really isn't bad either.

 

I have flown on Air Berlin quite a bit, mostly within Europe though (DUS is our closest airport and an AB hub) and have always been quite happy with them. Friendly and competent service, quite efficient, okay food, usually not too expensive.

[Bruin Steve]

We flew MIA-DUS on AB a few years ago.

Would do again if the price was right... food on long haul flights should be included (is according to AB's German website, they have just done away with free drinks on inner-European flights) you can upgrade to "gourmet" meals for a fee, in-flight entertainment was good (multiple different movies and tv shows, games etc.). DH was okay with the seat pitch though he is tall (6"3). If you worry you can book XL seats (emergency exit rows) in coach which give you 20% more leg room (can't find the price on the US site, 79 Euros according to German website).

DUS is fairly easy to navigate (much smaller than FFM or MUC) but Oslo really isn't bad either.

 

I have flown on Air Berlin quite a bit, mostly within Europe though (DUS is our closest airport and an AB hub) and have always been quite happy with them. Friendly and competent service, quite efficient, okay food, usually not too expensive.

 

Thank you, Piggeldy...

This has some of the information I was hoping for...

And, Gardyloo, I do appreciate your input as well...But, it's not that "price is paramount", it's just that there is a trade-off of price vs. comfort vs. convenience...

I actually can afford even First Class, but I tend to make value comparisons when I shop...Money isn't all-important, but it is worthy of some consideration...In the end, funds are finite to some extent and what I don't spend for one thing, I can use for another...Same way I view cruise cabin categories--I've cruised in everything from insides to major suites...It usually comes down to the price differentials and what I get for that differential in each case.

 

With airfare, I have flown Business Class and even First Class on occasion--but usually because of a deal--a special offered by the cruise line or a deal based on frequent flier miles. Typically, I find the differential in price for a flight to not be worth it--I'd rather spend that money on another cruise or a longer pre- or post-cruise stay. I'll put up with less room or lesser service for even a 12 hour flight in order to have those funds to pay for yet another cruise...

 

Also, neither my wife nor I are particularly tall people--though I do find myself a bit cramped into most coach seats...We have flown a few times on AA on their version of XL seating...and were utterly disappointed that they really didn't have all that much extra room. And I really have trouble sleeping in almost any airplane seat...

 

As to flying via YVR to get a better deal on Business Class, that doesn't work for me in that price vs. convenience trade off...It's an extra 3 hour flight each way, extra time in the airport and an extra chance for a delay, missed connection, lost luggage or something else to go wrong...

 

In the end, here is the RESULT:

 

We went ahead and booked air with Air Berlin. The deal was absolutely too good to pass up. We will be flying out of SFO to Rome via Dusseldorf...and home from Rome directly to LAX via Dusseldorf...for a mere $745 per person...Really not bad for the height of high summer season.

 

Both ways, the flight was marked with a little check mark referring to "Limited seats at this price"...and, since other dates around these times didn't have those low fares, I figured they weren't kidding and I'd better snatch them while they were there. (We are actually flying in one day ahead of when we originally intended since that fare did not show up on any other day...and flying from SFO since it didn't show up from LAX--LAX would have been about $400 per person more). We'll likely grab a cheap Southwest flight up to SFO--usually can be had for around $59 pp.

 

The website was a little confusing. They did show the options for reserving seats ahead of time--and I did consider paying the extra $94 US per person per leg for the XL at least on the California to Dusseldorf segments...but, that's about another $400, so we might just leave it alone and deal with the limited legroom. After all, we just flew back from Madrid a couple of weeks ago on Iberia and their pitches is coach are somewhat similar and we survived it...Sure, not ideal, but we'll have the next few weeks to stretch out and relax on our oversized "hump" balcony (yeah...I did spring for that extra space--after all, that's for 14 nights of cruising, not just 12 hours of flying)...

 

As to the food thing, that was really confusing...They give you the opportunity to pay extra for those meals...but "Gourmet"? The choices include Currywurst and Chicken fingers! Only thing I couldn't figure out at first glance was whether you HAD to order from that list or not get food at all...But, it sounds like you are saying that you DO get some sort of meal, correct? So, no need to pack along sandwiches?

 

One of the funnier things about all this is the "breakdown" of the fare...According to the statement, the "Fuel and Security Surcharge" is $430 per person and "Other Taxes" are $124.55 pp...The actual "Fare" is only $191 per person!

[Piggeldy]

As to the food thing, that was really confusing...They give you the opportunity to pay extra for those meals...but "Gourmet"? The choices include Currywurst and Chicken fingers! Only thing I couldn't figure out at first glance was whether you HAD to order from that list or not get food at all...But, it sounds like you are saying that you DO get some sort of meal, correct? So, no need to pack along sandwiches?

 

All I can say is that we did receive dinner (the usual choices of "chicken or pasta") and breakfast in Nov 13 and that according to the German website you should. This is the German verbage

 

Economy Class Speisenangebot auf Langstreckenflügen

Das Wohl unserer Gäste liegt uns am Herzen [...] Wir verwöhnen Sie auf unseren Langstreckenflügen mit bis zu zwei Hauptmahlzeiten.

Auf unseren Langstreckenflügen servieren wir Ihnen auf Anfrage gerne kostenfrei folgende Sondermenüs:

vegetarische Menüs, glutenfreies Essen [...]

 

Roughly translates "Economy long haul catering - Our guests' wellbeing is close to our hearts. We pamper you with up to two meals on our long haul flights. On our long haul flights we serve you the following special meals on request without extra charges: vegetarian, gluten free [...]

 

I still take that to mean up to two meals included (it wouldn't make sense to charge for regular meals and then have special diets included). Of course you never know when airlines decide to make changes to everything they offer. But from our experience (and what we, as German customers would expect from a German airline like Air Berlin on an international, transatlantic flight) food should be included.

 

Could it be that you could add Currywurst or chicken fingers for the second lag of the flight? For inner European flights they do indeed charge for food and I think Sansibar Currywurst is indeed one of the choices they have (and as it's "Sansibar" as of "the" bar on the island of Sylt, rich and posh, pay what you'd usually pay for a full meal Currywurst...). Due to the length of the flight, there shouldn't be a reason for you to add food for it though. Also, you can get really decent food at DUS (just bought a warm ham and cheese focacchia at Bistrot Bar - terminal B, gate 22 - last Thursday which was lovely, huge and inexpensive at ~7 Euros).

[purduemom1]

Our daughter flew this itinerary (RT SFO) in coach last June and 2 meals were served as well as snack items and comp wine. She did not prepay for seat selection and got an aisle seat at checkin. I booked the ticket directly with AB and found their web site to be confusing and also wondered about the meals. Did not pre pay for their gourmet choices. Daughter said the Neal's were fine.

[TMLAalum]

Pray that your luggage arrives with you when you arrive at your destination.

 

Three weeks after our airberlin flight #7249 arrived at TXL from JFK we were (luckily) reunited with our bags at AMS. Based on the tags on our bags they arrived in Berlin 2 days after we did, which meant they should have been delivered to our hotel then. However,despite numerous attempts to reach airberlin at the phone #s & email addresses given, there was no word from airberlin until an email 3 days after that, when we were already in Amsterdam, that one was found. Of course the office was closed when we called the # given in the email. Next morning we did reach airberlin, asked that the bag be rushed to Amsterdam, and waited for nothing. Boarded our cruise hoping that the bag would be waiting at our b&b when we returned 2 weeks later. First week on cruise received email that bag was lost again. Second week got another email and only call to our cell saying bag was found again and at AMS. Finally the day before we disembarked learned that 2nd bag was also at AMS. What a frustrating hassle dealing with an airline that doesn't answer its phone or respond to emails.

 

Now we face a new battle with them trying to obtain the compensation due us for purchases made to survive three weeks without luggage.

 

Thank goodness for our roll call friends who saw my post of our plight and brought extra items of clothes to help us out. And a big shoutout of appreciation to Celebrity Silhouette's concierge who attempted to reach airberlin as diligently as we had and had the same results of unanswered phones and ignored emails.

Edited August 26, 2016 by TMLAalum

[cantdance]

Pray that your luggage arrives with you when you arrive at your destination.

 

Thanks for this reminder to bring at least one change of clothes in the carryon. I have only had my luggage lost once (Delta) and, of course, it was when I had stupidly packed the car keys in the suitcase. We had to rent a car to go home and then come back the next day when it showed up.

 

And isn't wonderful how cruisers reach out to help? I read an article by a family that had lost their luggage (you? :0) and she said that the cruise ship gave them clothes from lost/found and from their rental formal clothes.